


Unconventional Gift

by ky old RK stuff (kuroiyousei)



Category: Rurouni Kenshin
Genre: AU - Modern U.S., Adventure, Alternate Universe, Drama, Introspection, Language (general), M/M, POV: Sano, Physical fighting between Saitou and Sano, Pining, Queer Saitou, Queer Sano, Romance, Sano pursues Saitou, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-02-14
Updated: 2009-02-14
Packaged: 2020-06-02 10:53:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19439986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuroiyousei/pseuds/ky%20old%20RK%20stuff
Summary: It’s all right to be unskilled at romance.





	Unconventional Gift

Sano lost track of his laundry basket as he craned his neck to watch the car -- he'd caught sight of it some-miraculous-how the moment it appeared at the stop light -- pulling into the lot and then a parking space. The laundry room at the rear of his apartment building, which was on a slight rise, had a good view of the adjacent lot, but a few of the venerable wide-boled trees that dotted the landscape of the complex got in the way. Which was just as well, since Sano would really prefer that fewer people noticed him blatantly ogling his neighbor. 

Though Sano wasn't sure how much money there was to be made in undercover cop work or super spy work or whatever exactly kind of work the guy did, the fact that he lived in _this_ relatively cheap apartment complex meant either he wasn't rolling in the dough or he was on some kind of long-term ultra-secret assignment that required him to pose as a typical middle-class drudge. In any case, Sano thought he could afford a nicer car. Sure, that thing got good gas mileage, but it was so _ugly_. 

Unlike the man himself. 

Sano found himself holding onto the zippered edges of his sweatshirt hoodie, as if holding himself forcibly back from running to attack (in one way or another) the man now climbing the shallow sidewalk steps toward the building they both inhabited. It would be a pointless maneuver; Saitou wouldn't even bother to knock him down -- he'd just move out of the way to let Sano fall on his face, make some caustic comment, and keep walking. So Sano merely watched him, probably with the Stupidest Expression Ever on his face, until the apartment blocked his view of the sidewalk and, consequently, Saitou. 

There was one moment before that inevitability, though, when Saitou turned a pointed gaze directly at him, and Sano shuddered. His upstairs neighbor had this way of looking at him -- well, at anyone, he supposed; he _wished_ it was just at him -- that seemed to say, "I _will_ kill you." And Sano couldn't blame him -- it couldn't be anything but annoying not to be able to walk from the car to the apartment without being stared at -- but he knew it was a bluff. Saitou was far more likely to ignore him to death, these days, than to bother killing him any other way. 

They'd come to blows several times during the odd circumstances under which they'd met in the first place -- a rather complicated business involving a couple of Sano's friends that had turned out to be based largely on misunderstanding -- and Sano had _always_ been distinctly, bloodily on the losing end. Saitou hadn't laid a hand on him since then, but it made perfect sense that Sano couldn't just let it go. _Nobody_ beat him that decisively, let alone that dispassionately. 

It might have been irrational to think the rematch he wanted would end any differently than any of the previous bouts, but wanting it was completely logical. So, he thought, was the subsequent transformation of his desire into something more curious than angry; he'd still craved the fight, but now more because he wanted to know the extent of Saitou's abilities -- not to mention how his own might improve in the process -- than because he felt the need to take out his frustrations on the man... and that was quite understandable. 

It was in retrospectively contemplating the _next_ transformation that he lost the thread of logic. The first two attitudes made sense, but the final evolution -- an interest in Saitou as something very different from a rival or sparring partner -- seemed removed from them by a bottomless gulf of incongruity. 

OK, well, given that he would _still_ enjoy a good fist-fight with the guy for the previously mentioned reasons, he couldn't even _really_ say that particular desire had changed. It had just sprouted some kind of unexpected cancerous growth that turned out to be something like a mad crush. Or were they unrelated? It was all nonsense. 

With a sigh that was almost angry, he cast about for his laundry. He'd dropped it, and the overloaded basket had fallen onto its side in a spill of dirty clothes. Gathering these up somewhat absently, he glanced once more toward the corner of the building behind which Saitou had disappeared. It might all be nonsense, but that wasn't by any means a deterrent; Sano was whole-heartedly obsessing and disinclined to deny it. He'd accepted with relative equanimity, in fact, and wouldn't have complained even merely to himself... _if_ Saitou didn't seem to have this obnoxious attitude of being entirely finished, case closed and paperwork filed, with Sano. 

The latter spent more time than he would like to admit daydreaming... trying to come up with an ambiance romantic enough to force Saitou to stop thinking of him as the stupid neighbor kid that always wanted a fight and see him instead as... something more. Even a little more would help. 

If, for instance, he were to sabotage the stairs up to Saitou's door and then lie in wait for Saitou to come along and sprain his ankle, Sano could tenderly care for him until Saitou was all better, and during that time Saitou would surely realize... well, no, sprained ankles weren't terribly romantic, and neither was what Saitou would probably do to Sano if he realized it had been a setup. 

Along the same lines, some manner of mildly poisoned food or drink was similarly unromantic and likely to be more dangerous to Sano's health than Saitou's. 

There was always the good old mail mixup... it was delivered here to unlocked boxes just inside the outer door; Sano potentially had access to that of all four of the apartments in the building. But, while it _was_ an excuse to meet, that was not even _remotely_ romantic... not to mention the fact that the meeting would last all of ten seconds anyway: Saitou would accept his letters, possibly make some disparaging comment on the state of the postal service, and close the door in Sano's face. 

Borrowing a cup of sugar was just stupid. 

But what if Sano played his music really loud and then answered the door half naked when Saitou appeared to tell him irritably to turn it down? Sano could pretend to be drunk and horny, and... No. That was _not_ romantic. That was pathetic. Why did so many of his ideas seem so blatantly to run the risk of making Saitou dangerously angry? 

So apparently he was good at thinking up dumb situations, but his romantic sense needed work. But, hell, if he could just get Saitou to _notice_ him -- other than by demanding a fight, that is... not that Saitou was even willing to give him _that_... "That's all behind us," he always said, or some similar whitewash. "Why can't you just drop it?" Obviously he didn't realize how Sano's attitude about it had changed, and Sano couldn't figure out how to tell him. 

Laundry was something he always put off for as long as practicality allowed, but he'd been lectured in the past about the rudeness of occupying both washing machines at once... so, rather than risk the wrath of the other tenants, although he had two loads' worth of clothing, Sano got one of the washers going and then stood staring at the other, empty machine somewhat wistfully for a few moments while the first whirred noisily about its business. Then he wandered out of the detergent-scented humidity to the chillier outside air. 

Tall and lean to the point of angularity wasn't something Sano would have thought he might at some point find attractive, but there was something about Saitou's form that had a devastating effect on Sano's frame of mind. Maybe it was the awareness of what kind of musculature lay under the impeccably buttoned long sleeves despite the look of leanness. Or maybe it wasn't so much the figure as the eyes, which stabbed into Sano like jolts of hot adrenaline... or the smirking lips so promising and expressive. Whatever it was, seeing all of these aspects suddenly just in front of him outside the laundry room door was enough to make Sano suck in a quick, surprised breath. 

Saitou wasn't here to do laundry. If Sano hadn't immediately noticed, with the acumen that cleverly picks up on superlatively useless facts at moments like this, that the other man had no basket full of white button-ups and slacks not discernibly dirty but probably having been worn to work and back the requisite once -- at least, this was what Sano _assumed_ Saitou would bring to this location -- the clenched fist aimed at his face would have been a fairly good indication that laundry was not on Saitou's mind at the moment. 

"The hell?" Sano demanded as he barely dodged the blow. 

Saitou's only response was an elbow to the side of Sano's head. It didn't crunch against his temple nearly as hard as he'd expected, which seemed to contradict the conclusion he'd tentatively reached that Saitou was tired of Sano staring at him like an idiot and had come to let him know. 

His expression didn't look angry at all, in fact, and Sano wasn't sure how to react. Well, obviously, he'd already clenched his own fists and started throwing punches back -- but emotionally it was a little confusing. _Normally_ when somebody jumped him for no apparent reason he would be boiling over before knuckles even brushed his cheek, but wasn't this exactly what he'd _just_ been wishing for? So for the moment he decided simply to fight back as best he could and assume he would slip into the correct emotional state eventually. 

It didn't take long -- five or six punches, two kicks, a good deal of ducking and weaving, and a few jabs from elbows, shoulders, and knees -- to get things sorted out: whenever Saitou landed a hit, especially given that the bastard _really_ didn't fight fair, it was annoying as hell; whenever Sano caught sight of those intense golden eyes, it was dangerously, distractingly arousing; when he realized Saitou was actually prolonging the combat by restraining himself from laying Sano flat in a couple of moves, it was confusing -- even if the impetus for this sudden spar hadn't _already_ been a mystery. But overall, it was _fun_. Sano's blood raced, his entire being energized. He couldn't begin to think what had pushed Saitou to this point, but he was damn well going to find out so he could make sure it happened again. Maybe this wasn't the full extent of what he wanted from the other man, but it was good and it was a start. 

The combination of a knee to the stomach and a hard fist to the jaw stole Sano's breath and seemed to set off firecrackers behind his eyes; with a grunt he crumpled, his hands falling twitching away from any blow they might have thought to attempt in return. Unexpectedly, Saitou caught him firmly as he fell; it was the only thing firm in a world suddenly very wobbly and increasingly blurry around the edges. Bending quickly, his mouth close to Sano's ear, he murmured, "Happy Valentine's Day." 

Sano was fairly sure his descent into unconsciousness was abetted by the shock of the words and their breath against his face, the realization of their implications, not to mention the glorious feeling of falling into Saitou's arms. He had just time to reflect, as the blackness took him, that maybe he wasn't the only one to have allowed a complete incapacity for romance to keep him from confessing something... 

And that maybe that was just fine with him.


End file.
